Concerts

Treat yourself to an evening of locally sourced blues with Anthony Geraci at Bull Run

Anthony Geraci and the Boston Blues All-Stars will bring bluesy vibes to Shirley on March 19.

Bob Sekinger

By Blake Maddux

1 minute to read

Pianist Anthony Geraci has been part of the Boston jazz and blues scenes for the past 50 years.

As an original member of Sugar Ray & the Bluetones, the New Haven native and Berklee graduate toured with numerous legendary blues artists throughout the late 1970s and into the ’80s. In 1984, he cofounded Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters, which has remained musically active in various configurations (with and without Geraci) ever since. He later appeared on the Grammy-nominated 1999 album “Superharps,” which was recorded by a harmonica-master quartet of James Cotton, Billy Branch, Charlie Musselwhite, and Sugar Ray Norcia (his erstwhile employer).

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The past seven years have brought Geraci a degree of recognition that is unmatched in his six-decade-spanning career.

His 2015 release, “Fifty Shades of Blue,” received Blues Music Awards nominations for Best Song, Best Album, and Best Traditional Blues Album.

Four years later, the Blues Foundation nominated “Why Did You Have To Go” for Album of the Year, Traditional Album of the Year, and Song of the Year (“Angelina, Angelina”). Geraci himself was in contention for Instrumentalist of the Year-Piano, Traditional Male Blues Artist of the Year, and Band of the Year with the Boston Blues All-Stars.

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Geraci finally won the recognition that he has long been making himself worthy of when he was named 2021 Instrumentalist of the Year-Piano, an honor that he had been considered for at each of the five previous ceremonies. He and the Boston Blues All-Stars were once again in the running for Band of the Year, and Geraci also received a Boston Music Awards nomination for Blues Artist of the Year.

All of what makes Geraci and his band – comprising Dennis Brennan, Troy Gonyea, Michael “Mudcat” Ward and Jeff Armstrong – versatile, enduring, and recognition-worthy will be on display at Bull Run on March 19.

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